Cheteshwar Pujara questions Australia's ability to play spin

Pujara scored his second double century in only his 11th Test match on Monday. (BCCI)

Hyderabad: Playing spinners is one of the most vital attributes of Cheteshwar Pujara's batting and he displayed that in abundance in the first innings of the Hyderabad Test, scoring his second double hundred in only his 11th Test match on Monday. But the 25-year-old could not say the same about the Australian batsmen as he termed them clueless facing spinners on turning tracks and said they need to apply themselves much more than what they have done so far on the tour.

"I think they need to apply themselves," Pujara said about Australia's batsmen. "They don't know how to go about the turning tracks. They know their strengths and we are trying to find out their weaknesses. So far we have been successful so our spinners have to continue with what they are doing."

Apart from Michael Clarke, who has scored 252 runs - including a century - at an average of 84 in this series so far, the rest of the top order has fared well below the expectations. Only opener Ed Cowan, who was not out on 26 at stumps on day three, is averaging more than 30 in the campaign.

While there was a huge debate about Australia not going their frontline spinner Nathan Lyon for this Test, Pujara agreed with the Aussie selectors' decision. "Totally [agree with their choice of Xavier Doherty and Glenn Maxwell], because they had to make some changes," Pujura said. "They needed an offspinner and a left-arm spinner for sure, but they wanted a batsman as well so Maxwell was a good option for them.

"I think [Lyon] went for a lot of runs and that is the reason they made the change. But otherwise as a batsman I was comfortable facing him. In the past I have batted well against [Graeme] Swann and [Monty] Panesar which helped me playing against Australian spinners."